Cavaliers trade Kyle Korver to Utah

The Cleveland Cavaliers began to sweep the veterans out the door with the first of what is expected to be many moves as the team attempts a rebuild as the Cavaliers traded veteran three-point specialist Kyle Korver to the Utah Jazz in return for forward Alec Burks and two future second-round draft picks.

The 37-year-old Korver had asked to be traded in the off-season, but the Cavaliers had demurred by stating that they expected to compete for the playoffs without LeBron James, which lasted all of a few games into a start of 4-15 upon the time of Korver's trading to Salt Lake.
Korver was averaging just under seven points for the Cavaliers but was hitting three-pointers at a forty-six percent clip, which is what makes a player like Korver always attractive as a role player for a contender and makes him marketable for a team in the bottom half of the standings.

Alec Burks averaged around eight points a game as a guard/occasional small forward for the Jazz, having spent his entire career with Utah after being drafted by them in the first round in 2011.
Burks has struggled to stay on the court for Utah over the past four seasons, playing more than half the games just one time over that term.
Burks will come motivated to Cleveland as his eleven million dollars per year contract expires at the end of the season, so Burks will be using the remainder of the year as an audition for the Cavaliers and the rest of the league for a new deal, although he's unlikely to receive anywhere near the contract that he currently owns.
Burks contract could make him attractive to a team in need of cap space in the off-season so Burks might want to rent in Cleveland for the next few months before the trade deadline in February.
Cleveland also received Utah's 2020 second rounder and Washington's 2021 second rounder.
More often than not, these are used to make other trades work or picking European players that rarely come to North America, but rights can be moved around to finish off trades.

Alec Burks will play a few months in Cleveland, maybe show he's healthy enough to make him attractive to a contender that values a second unit guard and an expiring contract and maybe those second rounders will help make a future trade complete, but selfishly, I was hoping for a little more for Korver.
Perhaps that was unrealistic on my part, hoping for a first rounder, even if near the end of the first from a championship contender.

Kyle Korver was a class act and kudos to the Cavaliers for sending him out to a contender (even if a mid-range one) and to a place Korver and family were familiar with (Korver played with the Jazz earlier in his career).
That's the type of move that spreads through the league and over the long haul can help the image of a team that has not always been known as player friendly.

This trade will be the first domino to fall in a long line of dominos between now and the next draft.
Let's hope Koby Altman does better in rebuilding than he did in retooling..

Back later with the boxing challenge.